Photos from Hoi An: Stepping Back in Time

Early morning light on the quiet streets of Old Town

Hoi An is a crumbling beauty.Not so long ago, it was just a forgotten, sleepy village whose main charm was that it hadn’t been bombed into oblivion during the war. Now, it’s on the tourist trail in a big way and is crammed full of restaurants, hotels, and clothing shops.

Old Town looks much as did did a hundred years ago, with tiny buildings packed cheek-to-jowl, their walls covered in fading, worn paint. It reminds me, in a sense, of Venice. I’m here in the low season and the tourist presence is strong — I can only imagine what it’s like in the high season. Normally, that would irritate me, but I just can’t bring myself to complain — it’s just so relaxed and lovely.

Beautiful Photos! When we were in Hoi An it was pouring rain the entire time. It is nice to see the colours in the sunlight. On a side note, we loved the shopping there. We bought a tonne of clothes while we were there, and during our recent press trip with Princess Cruises we had the chance to finally wear our dressy wardrobe. We were the best dressed of the group and we didn’t pay more than $35 for anything. That includes Dave’s full cashmere suit:) It must be awesome to be there in low season. Enjoy! .-= Dave and Deb´s last blog ..Mt McKinley from Denali National Park- Snapshot Sunday =-.

A friend and I have been riding from Saigon ever since May, and we’re abou to roll into Hanoi. When you leave Hoi An, I strongly suggest you take the 1A up to Hue. Normally the 1A is a truck-swamped hellroad that we avoided at any cost, but that stretch goes over a huge mountain range jutting out into the ocean and is stunningly beautiful. Be sure to check out the ruined French hill fort at the top too! .-= Mitch´s last blog ..DAY 67- The Country Of No =-.

I was in Hoi An Summer 2009 , although the hotel i stayed at offered a pool. It was made up by the staff going thru your bags. And they know when your not in your room cause you have to leave the key when you go out. Usually its to cut the power to your room. But some hotel staff are under paid. So they have jobs to supplement themselves. But your right. Hoi-An is crumbling and no one knows how to fix it. I also took a hop on hop off buss from Tam Ky a ride that takes 1 hour for 25 miles south .

Wow! Beautiful pictures! I visited Hoi An a few years ago when I was living in Asia and had a few weeks’ holiday. We had been planning to travel around a bit once there, but ended up staying just outside Hoi An the whole time; just relaxing, scuba diving, cycling about, and taking pictures. I have also been to Venice, and appreciate the comparison, although I much prefer Hoi An. I felt Venice was decomposing, where Hoi An felt like it was simply crumbling back into the landscape. If you’ve extra time and are bored, this is my experience in Vietnam:http://becky-garrett.blogspot.com/2008/06/vietnam-place-to-be-seriously.html